Summer Nebraskae
Number 1
University of Nebr.-Lincoln
June 11, 1981
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Changes in park's zoo
reduce animal risks
staff photo by Bill Graf
A camel at Pioneer Park displays a striking profile.
BY CHARLES FLOWERDAY
In a time of lowered expectations and
diminishing budgets, the Pioneers 'Park
Zoo has received improvements to rem
edy problems which, in recent summers,
have endangered animals' lives.
Capitol Humane Society Director
Mike Roger said recently that a number
of the problems plaguing the zoo have
been remedied.
The problems he cited were these:
The white-tailed deer had de
veloped a gum disease which could not be
treated until the deer were run down and
captured. Because the disease affected
their ability to feed themselves, captur
ing them sometimes endangered their
health further as deer ran from those
trying to help them.
UNL to receive 12,000 acres
for use in ranching research
BY DEBBIE KOLLARS
Work is currently underway to turn a
12,000 acre cattle ranch into a complete
research center for studying practices of
cattle ranching in the sandhills.
The ranch, valued at $1.7 million, was
donated to the University of Nebraska
Foundation by Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Gud
mundsen of Sun City, Ariz., said Herb
Potter, vice president of the Foundation.
Mr. and Mrs. Gudmundsen both gradu
ated from the University of Nebraska in
1922. They moved to western Nebraska
where Gudmundsen worked in business
and his wife taught school, Potter said.
After a short time, they started ranch
ing and have been in in the ranching
business ever since. Over the years they
acquired a total of 11,377 acres of land,
Potter said.
Ten years ago the Gudmundsens
decided to maintain a winter home in
Sun City, but continued to live on the
ranch during the summer months.
Because the sandhills had been their
home for so many years, and since they
had no family of their own, the Gud
mundsens decided ey,ht years ago to set
up a scholarship funa at the University
of Nebraska for students from the Sand
hills area.
"It is a unique scholarship fund," Pot
ter said, "because the sandhills comprise
such a huge area. Most scholarships are
designated for a student from just a cer
tain town or county." He said five or six
scholarships, averaging $350, are given
each year.
Letters of thanks
Potter said the letters of thanks writ
, ten by the scholarship recipients to the
Gudmundsens have played a large part in
the couple's continued interest in sup
porting th University.
"Having no children of their own, they
really enjoyed getting the thank you let
ters. It meant a lot to them, and it kept
them in touch with the University," Pot
ter said.
In the late 1970s, the couple, in their
early 80s, began planning the disposition
of their estate. Since they have no family,
Potter said, they thought of their alma
mater and decided to make a gift of their
ranch in the sandhills to the University
of Nebraska.
The University received 12,817 acres,
including three parcels of school land,
C7
totaling 1,440 acres. The school lands are
owned by the state of Nebraska and are
leased to the owner of the ranch.
As of May 1, the University of Nebras
ka's Institute of Agriculture and Natural
Resources began leasing the ranch from
the Foundation, Potter said.
The lease payment of $163,000 will be
paid over three years, said Dr. Lavon
Sumption, director of the IANR's North
Platte Station. After the three year lease
is ended, the land will be leased indefi
nitely to the University.
The Gudmundsens will receive the net
income from their ranch during their life
time. After that, Potter said, the income
will go to the University's agricultural re
search stations.
Moving from Tryon
The University plans to transfer a
substantial amount of current research
going on at the Sandhills Agricultural
Laboratory at Tryon, Neb., to the newly
acquired ranch, Sumption said. The
ranch is located near Whitman, Neb., and
lies in. the counties of Grant, Hooker and
Cherry.
The 3,500-acre operation at Tryon will
be vacated with the exception of 143
acres, which will be maintained for exten
sive studies of irrigation on sandy soils,
Sumption said.
All other research will be moved to the
new ranch, which will be called the Sand
hills Research Center, he said.
Howard Ottoson, interim vice chan
cellor of the IANR, said the research con
ducted will encompass all of the practices
of cattle ranchers in the sandhills. This
includes research into grazing practices,
grass mixtures, fertilizing practices, cat
tle management,and supplementary feed
ing practices.
Systems of grazing will be studied to
determine how to best graze large num
bers of cattle over many years without
weakening root reserves, he said.
"What is so nice about this ranch,"
Ottoson said, "is that it is large enough
to have lots of cattle. With more cattle,
we will have greater statistical validity in
our research."
The new Sandhills Research Center
has 750 Angus-Hereford crossbred heifers
and 15 Angus bulls, Sumption said. The
heifers were purchased in March and
April of this year in the sandhills area;
the bulls are the "by-products of re
search," he said.
Ottoson said the new ranch will serve
a number of educational needs. Specific
research projects by both undergraduate
and graduate students will be conducted
there, with housing provided. There will
be organized study tours, seminars, and
short teaching programs on range man
agement. There will also be numerous ex
tension activities, he said.
"It is an ideal location for teaching,"
said Sumption. "We have always wanted
to develop a facility for students and
adults to be on site for one-to seven-day
workshops and field study groups. Here
they can be brought together in dormi
tory fashion and do classroom work, and
then move right on to the land for field
study close by.
Sumption said there is a great deal of
building to be done yet. Fencing and
watering equipment must be built for
many small groups of cattle. A cattle
handling facility, including a veterinary
area, calving shed, and weighing and re
straining areas, must also be built.
In addition, he said, two houses must
be remodeled for permanant employees.
And much equipment for handling feed
and putting up hay must be bought.
The fencing and water development
will extend over three years, Sumption
said. The rest should be completed this
fall. The Sandhills Research Center will
be in full operation in terms of ranching
by this fall, he said. By next spring,
Sumption added, detailed research
should be in full operation.
The manager at the Tryon station and
three other employees there are transfer
ring to the new station, Sumption said.
The staff may enlarge in the future, he
said, depending on the amount of work
and budget success.
"This is a tremendous asset for the
University," said Ottoson. "It has the
potential for becoming one of the finest
research facilities of its kind in the coun
try devoted to the problem of range cat
tle management."
Sumption added, "This is the most
significant addition to our research
teaching and extension program in the
field of agriculture since the addition of
the Mead Station and the Meat Animal
Research Center at Clay Center."
There will be a dedication ceremony
commemorating the transfer of the Gud
mundsen ranch to the University on June
26 at the ranch. Ottoson said it will be at
tended by University Regents and ad
ministrators and other local persons.
Deer and other wild animals had to
be chased through three successive pens
up to the barn. Sometimes they tried to
hurdle the fence and caught themselves
on the wire.
People occasionally fed the animals
food that was dangerous to their health:
everything from too much bread to a
light bulb which killed an ostrich.
One male camel had killed his calf
because he was not kept separated from
it.
Mike Calvert, a city budget officer,
said that during the fiscal year 1979-80,
capital improvements at the zoo
amounted to $14,210. The money came
mostly from federal revenue-sharing
funds, he explained.
Superintendent of City Parks and
Recreation Ted Novack pointed to a new
barn, in which deer are cared for; a dou
ble fence affording better protection for
the camels and ostriches; automatic
waterers in all pens, to keep animals wa
tered even in a drought; and portable
fencing, with which workers can ap
proach and capture roaming animals if
any need the attention of a veterinarian.
He also said that the total budget for
city capital improvements in fiscal 1980
81 was $276,500. This compares to more
than $600,000 three years ago. All city
services have been hard hit recently, he
said.
Novack added that he would like to
see some broader discussion in the com
munity of "what direction the zoo should
take."
"Somebody's got to make some deci
sions," Novack said.
Some of the problems have been
solved, he said, but added that he would
like to see more fencing, particulary dou
ble fencing, which allows visitors to
watch from six feet away while an inner
fence protects the animals.
"We are trying to do the best we can
with a declining budget," Novack said.
When asked how the zoo will be able
to maintain its standards in the future,
Novack called attention to the recently
created Parks and Recreation Depart
ment Trust Fund.
"We are most happy to accept dona
tions." he said.
Voyager missions
topic of lecture
The Fourth Annual Frnak England
Sorenson Summer Lecture will be given
by Dr. Bevan M. French of NASA at
10:30 ajn. on June 18 at the Nebraska
Union Ballroom. The title of his talk is
"Land of the Giants: Voyager at Jupiter
and Saturn." This lecture is open to the
general public and is sponsored by the
Frank E. Sorenson Summer Lecture
Fund and the University of Nebraska
Lincoln Summer Sessions.
French has been NASA's Discipline
Scientist for Plantety Materials Research
since 1975.
Beginning in 1969, Dr. French studied
the lunar rocks returned from the Apollo
11, 12 and 14 missions. He was also se
lected as one of a small group of scientists
to study material returned by the Rus
sian Luna-16 unmanned probe. In 1971
and 72, he participated in astronaut
training trips with the Apollo 16 and 17
crews.
French has published several books
and more than 35 technical papers on
chemical reactions in rocks, terrestrial
meteorite craters and lunar samples. He
has also written extensively about space
science discoveries for the nonscientist.
